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"A collaborative political resource." |
George W. Norris Campaign for President 1928
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Race
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| Contributor | Chronicler |
| Last Edited | Chronicler Jan 17, 2024 01:41pm |
| Category | News |
| News Date | Jul 11, 2022 07:00pm |
| Description | Background
George W. Norris was a Progressive Republican in the US Senate in the 1920s; he later became an Independent and served until his defeat in 1942. In the 1920s, Norris was one of a group of insurgent Republicans who opposed the platforms of both political parties and were "bone dry" prohibitionists. Norris in particular did not work with the Republican Party in his state; he was not even on speaking terms with key Republicans in Nebraska during the Coolidge administration. At the time his presidential campaign materialized in 1927, a local newspaper stated "Senator Norris has been a party unto himself, except when in need of a nomination or election" (McCook Daily Gazette, 9/13/1927).
Norris enters the race
In August 1927, a Norris supporter named C.A. Sorensen organized the "Norris for President Committee of Five Thousand," which began to collect signatures to get Norris's name on the Nebraska presidential preference primary ballot (Kenesaw [NE] Progress, 8/25/1927). When a reporter asked him about it, Norris said he was unaware of the effort to get his name on the ballot (Grand Island [NE] Daily Independent, 8/29/1927).
A potential Norris candidacy did not have unanimous support among the Nebraska Republicans. An anti-Norris newspaper editorialized "The next president will not hail from Nebraska. There are some men in this state who are real presidential timber but [Norris was] not in that class" (York [NE] Republican, 9/22/1927). In September 1927, a reporter visited with important Democrats and Republicans in the Midwest to find out how they saw the upcoming 1928 presidential election. The reporter found no support for Norris there, and he wrote that Republicans in that area generally viewed Norris as only a "favorite son" candidate (Washington Evening Star, 10/6/1927).
The insurgent Republican Senators gathered for a conference in October 1927 prior to the convening of the upcoming session of Congress. The Senators who were willing to allow their names to appear in the press were Borah, Norris, Nye, Frazier, and Brookhart. One item on their agenda was the upcoming presidential primary campaign. The Senators issued a statement that they would support Norris in any state where he entered his name (Lincoln Journal Star, 10/11/1927). The two Republican Senators from Wisconsin joined Norris the following week. Senator La Follette was still unhappy that Norris didn't support his father's 1924 candidacy, and Senator Blaine felt that Norris was too much of a maverick but agreed to support him anyway (Oshkosh Northwestern, 11/16/1927).
The opening of Congress in December 1927 brought two news items to the fore related to Norris. First, Norris led the movement to deny two Republicans to their seats in the Senate (Vare in Pennsylvania and Smith in Illinois) due to the vast sums of money spent in their campaigns (Washington Evening Star, 12/6/1927). The second item was a story released by the Hearst newspaper chain on December 14 stating that people in Mexico had established a "slush fund" for use by four US Senators - Borah, Norris, La Follette, and Heflin. The charge was an ironic turn since Norris was standing in the way of two Senators taking their seats due to their huge campaign war chests (Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, 12/15/1927). The Senate held a hearing on the topic, at which Hearst said that the Mexican funds were funneled into the nation by Dudley F. Malone. Norris was supposed to have received $300,000. Malone testified that he had never been in Mexico, denied any involvement in a bribery scheme, and had not had contact with the Senators for years (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 12/15/1927). The accusations had not dissipated from the minds of voters as the selection of delegates to the RNC of 1928 began. Newspaper images demonstrate that Norris shaved his mustache around the beginning of 1928 for his campaign.
The 1928 Primaries
Progressive Republicans in Wisconsin met on 1/21/1928 and nominated a slate of delegates to the RNC, pledged to Norris. Newspapers pointed out that Wisconsin Progressives were "wet" while their endorsed nominee was "bone dry" (Racine Journal Times, 1/23/1928). As the weeks progressed, local supporters of each contender worked in their states to choose delegates. Most states chose delegates through local and state conventions. In most primary states, the contenders chose not to challenge each other. Hoover supporters filed for the Wisconsin primary, but Hoover withdrew from that primary rather than risking a poor showing against the La Follette organization. Similarly, Norris chose not to challenge Lowden in North Dakota.
Norris won two primaries in April 1928, being the only candidate on the ballot in each. Wisconsin voted on 4/3, and Norris won with 87% of the vote. Hoover placed second on write-ins with 9%. Before the Nebraska primary, an anti-Norris newspaper ran an article "25 Years Without a Constructive Measure." The editorial stated "George Norris has been honored by the people of Nebraska for nearly 40 years... During all those years has George W. Norris ever accomplished anything that brought honor and glory to his state?... has he acquired distinction for anything?... Has his brain solved any of the nation's problems? None. Nothing." (Omaha Sunday Bee-News, 4/8/1928). When Nebraska voted two days later, Norris won 92% of the vote; Hoover again placed second with 6% on write-ins.
A syndicated overview of the presidential contenders ran in May 1928. The article about Norris ran on May 4, the 23rd in the series. Norris was quoted in the article saying "There isn't a chance of my being made the republican party's candidate for president" (Battle Creek Enquirer, 5/4/1928).
Republican National Convention
At the Republican National Convention of 1928, Norris received 24 votes for president. Some delegates chosen on his ticket even voted against him. The Nebraska delegation voted Norris-8, Hoover-11. Wisconsin voted Norris-15, Hoover-8. Hence Norris lost almost half of his delegates (19 of his 42) to Hoover. He did gain one Lowden delegate from North Dakota for his fifth place showing at the convention. After the convention, Norris spoke with reporters and ranted against multiple Republicans involved in the convention (Tampa Bay Times, 6/26/1928).
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